Historic Clay movie theater closes

John Watzke, left, and Chad Edwards pose in front of the historic Clay Theatre in Green Cove Springs, Florida in a September 2012 file photo.

Eighteen months after its grand re-opening, Green Cove Spring’s Clay Theatre once again has gone dark.

The twin-screen, two-story theater concluded its comeback run on Saturday evening with a screening of “The Monuments Men.”

The nearly 100-year-old theater – owned by brothers John and Charlie Watzke, along with partner Chad Edwards – announced the closing in a post on its Facebook page on Saturday:

“It is with deep regret that the Clay Theatre once again joins the LONG LIST of Closed Businesses in Green Cove Springs. To those of you that visited the Clay and tried to support a local and historic business we want to say Thank You. To those that just passed and said how beautiful it is and how happy you were to see this part of Historic Green Cove here remember it takes more than compliments to cover the expenses of operating a business. Once again due to the lack of local support the Clay Theatre and all it's (sic) beautiful neon is Dark and empty.”